WASHINGTON, DC - The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations today convened to hear from various states about their experiences implementing state based marketplaces under the president’s health law. Subcommittee members sought answers on how billions of taxpayer dollars were spent on state exchanges, what oversight was conducted, and what challenges the states face moving forward.
Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA) said, “The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has awarded $5.51 billion to the states to help them establish their exchanges. … In fact, the states represented on our panel today - California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Oregon - were awarded over $2 billion of federal grant dollars. Notably, Oregon has already pulled the plug on its state exchange and Hawaii is in the process of doing so. The faucet of establishment grant money finally turned off at the end of 2014, when the states’ exchanges were supposed to be self-sustaining. Despite this enormous taxpayer investment, state exchanges are still struggling."
Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) spoke to Oregon’s tremendous challenges, explaining, “As you know, Oregon received about $305 million in federal grant dollars to build Cover Oregon. Only California and New York - states with about nine and four times the population, respectively - received more. The exchange was launched with much fanfare. … But when the lights came on and the curtain went up on Cover Oregon, it failed to sign up a single person online in one sitting. Not a single one. … The collapse of Cover Oregon was an epic disaster for Oregonians, and the aftermath hasn’t inspired additional confidence in our state government or CMS."
Full committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) added, “The government’s robust investment of federal funds into the state exchanges should have been accompanied by equally robust oversight and accountability by these stewards of taxpayer dollars. However, reports by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office and the Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General have found that CMS’ oversight of these exchanges is severely lacking."
Doctor and Rep. Larry Bucshon, M.D. (R-IN), explained the important difference between expanding coverage and expanding access. “Coverage does not guarantee access to health care. Deductibles are up, premiums are up, the cost is being shifted to the people. The uninsurance rate may be down, but the access has not been improved dramatically," said Buschon.
The subcommittee will continue its strong oversight of this law and of how the administration is spending billions of hardworking taxpayer dollars.
Read complete witness testimony and watch the entire hearing online HERE.
